Vaisya

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Vaisya \Vais"ya\, n. [Skr. vai[,c]ya.]
     The third of the four great original castes among the Hindus,
     now either extinct or partially represented by the mercantile
     class of Banyas. See the Note under {Caste}, 1.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Vaisya
       n 1: a member of the mercantile and professional Hindu caste; the
            third of the four main castes
       2: the third of the four varnas: the commoners or yeoman
          farmers or mercantile and professional category